Adjustable mounting apparatus



Jan. 30, 1962 G. E. RUBENS ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING APPARATUS NTOR. RUBENS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVE GERALD E.

Filed Sept. 26, 1957 Jan. 30, 1962 G. E. RUBENS ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flled Sept 26 1957 INVENTOR. GERALD E. RUBENS Attorney 3,018,774 ADJUSTABLE MGUNTHNG APPARATUS Gerald E. Rubens, 334 Cornstock Ave, Los Angeles 24, Calif. Filed Sept. 26, 1957, tier. No. 686,425 7 Claims. ((31. 1262t)2) This invention relates to mounting apparatus and more particularly to a novel adjustable mounting means for installing a firescreen, or the like, in a fireplace which is readily adapted to accommodate to a variety of firescreen embodiments.

In the building industry, as well as others, it has been the conventional practice to install such equipment as firescreens, for example, in a fireplace by means of screws or other fasteners which project through a decorative member on which the screen is carried into holding contact with the construction of the fireplace. Generally, the screen is divided at its center to provide a pair of screen halves and mechanical means are employed for conveniently drawing the screen halves to an open position by moving the adjacent ends of the pair of screen halves in opposite directions. To close the screen, the mechanical means are actuated to draw the ends of the screen together.

Difficulties are encountered when employing the conventional practice for installing a firescreen on a fireplace which stem largely from the fact that holes, or other alterations, are required to be made in the fireplace construction. Usually, a fireplace is constructed of expensive building materials, such as flagstone or bricks of high ornamental value and the alteration or modification of these materials sometimes causes undesirable chip-ping or cracks and in some instances loosens the bricks so that inadequate support is given to the mounting of the firescreen. This inadequacy causes the firescreen to sag and to detract from the general decorative appearance of the fireplace. Furthermore, modern design in present day building construction offers a variety of fireplace designs having varying configurations, lengths and heights from the floor so that it is diificult to provide a standard mounting means for a firescreen which is universally suited to fit many fireplace configurations.

These difiiculties are overcome in accordance with the present invention which provides an adjustable mounting means comprising a base plate or lintel integrally built into the fireplace construction on which clamping means are detachably secured. The clamping means carry an adjustable extension which projects in front of the face of the fireplace and which, in turn, is adjustably secured to a support member carrying the screen and mechanical actuating means therefor. By securing the clamping means to the base plate, the firescreen is supported without altering or marrin-g the building materials employed in the construction of the fireplace while adjusting the extension means associated with the clamping means permits the member to be properly spaced with respect to the face of the fireplace. Adjustment of the bracing means properly spaces the firescreen with respect to the floor or fireplace step. Furthermore, a feature resides in the fact that the clamping means, including the extension means and the bracing means, may be suitably spaced along the decorative member to properly mount firescreens in any one of a variety of fireplace configurations having different lengths and heights from the floor.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel mounting means for a firescreen which is readily adjustable to properly mount the firescreen with respect to fireplaces of varying configurations.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a firescreen mounting means which may be readily attime tached to the fireplace or detached therefrom without altering or modifying the fireplace construction.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel mounting means for a firescreen which will readily accommodate a variety of firescreen embodiments.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mounting means for a firescreen which may be attached to or detached from a fireplace by an unskilled person in the mechanical arts.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel mounting means for a firescreen which does not detract from the desired ornamental appearance of the firescreen and wherein the mounting means and screen actuating means is hidden from sight by means of the firescreen itself.

These and other objects will be more readily apparent upon the reading of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a fireplace construction having a firescreen mounted thereon in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of a fireplace showing an angle base plate fixed thereto taken in the direction of arrows 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the mounting means for supporting one embodiment of a firescreen taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a firescreen mounting means shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the mounting means of FIGURE 4 employed for supporting another embodiment of a firescreen; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View of the mounting means of FIGURE 4 employed for supporting still another embodiment of a firescreen.

With reference to FIGURE 1, a fireplace construction is shown having an opening 10 defined by a horizontal lintel 11 spanning opening 10, a pair of substantially parallel sides 12 and 13 and a hearth 14 which may take the form of a floor or fireplace step. The fireplace construction is formed by conventional brick masonry wherein a plurality of bricks, such as bricks 15 and 16, are laid in an end-to-end relationship to form a single row of bricks, such as rows 17 and 18. A plurality of rows of bricks are provided to give the fireplace construction the desired height compatible with a particular fireplace design. The bricks of adjacent rows and the bricks included in each row are fixed to one another by a suitable mortar mixture 20, which when dry, retains the plurality of bricks in place[ The lintel suitably supports row 17 of bricks to provide a top for opening 10.

The opening 10 is suitable for receiving combustible materials such as wood logs (not shown) and is usually covered by a screen 21 of interwoven fine mesh wire which interferes with the travel of sparks or other particles which may be sputtered or thrown from the combustible material towards the opening. In this manner, the sparks or particles are confined by the sides of the fireplace construction and the firescreen so that the sparks only unimpeded path of travel would be through the chimney (not shown) which extends upwards from the hearth behind the bricks supported on the lintel.

In the present instance, screen 21 is shown divided substantially at its center to provide a pair of screen halves 22 and 23 so that when drawn together, the halves combine to close the opening 10 and when the adjacent ends of the halves are drawn towards sides 12 and 13 respectively, the halves expose opening 10 so that ingress and egress into and out of the opening may be had. The

screen halves may be actuated by any suitable means; however, as shown, a pair of chains 24 and 25 are employed for this purpose. Manual pulling of chain 24 urges the screen halves to close while the pulling of chain 25 urges the screen halves to open. It is to be noted that the screen actuating means or the particular screen configuration per se does not form a part of the present invention and is illustrated and described only in the interest of clarity and by way of example.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 3, the screen is movably suepended from a rod 26 by means of a plurality of rings, such as a ring 27, which fits between the interweaving of the wire mesh and encircles the rod. Rod 26 is supported on its opposite ends by end pieces, such as piece 28, carried by a member 30 generally mounted forward of the front face 31 of the fireplace construction. This latter member is employed to house the rod, rings and chains so that the presence of these parts will be hidden from view from the room interior and the general appearance of the firescreen improved. Also, member 30 serves as an adequate structure on which to attach a means for mounting the screen on the fireplace with respect to the face 31 of the fireplace construction and the hearth or fireplace step.

The means for mounting the firescreen and decorative member 30 to the fireplace, include the lintel 11 having a horizontal member 33 and a vertical member 34 integrally formed at a right angle to member 33. As shown more clearly in FIGURE 2, lintel 11 is secured to the fireplace construction by interposing member 33 between adjacent rows of brick 17 and 18 respectively, which are suitably held in place by the mortar mixture 20. Member 34 of the lintel is arranged to follow the internal contour of the fireplace extending upward from the hearth toward the chimney and is engageable with the inner face 35 of the fireplace construction. Lintel 11 extends from one end of opening 10 to its opposite end and projects beyond the sides 12 and 13 defining the opening for a dis tance of about the length of one brick. Construction in this manner firmly secures lintel 11 in position so that adequate support is provided to the immediate row 17 of bricks.

In order to mount member 30 to the front face 31 of the fireplace, a clamping means indicated by the general reference numeral 36 in FIG. 3 is provided which comprises a pair of cooperating jaw members 37 and 38 which are movably connected together by means of a threaded bolt 40 so that the jaws may be moved relative to one another. Bolt 40 is provided with a plurality of screw threads 32 which engage with a threaded bore (not shown) provided in leg 44 of jaw 37 while the shank 45 of the bolt passes through a smooth bore (not shown) provided in a leg 46 of jaw 38. Jaw 37 is provided with an upright portion 48 carrying raised portions 50 which engage the rear surface of member 34 of ilintel 11. Jaw 38 is pro vided with a hook-like projection 51 which is provided with a fiat portion 52 and is fabricated in such a fashion that the general curvature of the projection 51 mates with the lower surface 53 of a brick in row 17. The extreme tip of projection 51 indicated by reference numeral 54 is arranged to grip an end 55 of member 33 of lintel 11 so that in combination with jaw 37, bolt 40 may be rotated to draw the jaws together into firm engagement with member 34 and end 55 of member 33. An extension 57 is provided which is carried by the jaws having an elongated slot 58 and an arm 60. To secure the extension to the jaws, a pair of fasteners, such as screw 61, is employed which project through the slot and threadably engage the jaws. The opposite ends of the slot 58 limit the distance which the arm 60 may be projected beyond face 31 of the fireplace construction when the jaws are clamped to lintel 11.

Although a single mounting means 36 is being described, it is to be noted that a similarly constructed mounted means is provided on the opposite end of member 30 in 4 space relationship to the mounting means 36 as shown in FIGURE 1.

In FIGURES 3 and 4, one firescreen embodiment is shown having a member 30 for housing the rod 26 and the rings 27 for suspending the screen 21. Member 30 is provided with an inward projecting flange 62 which is adapted to receive a contoured end 63 provided on a leg 64 formed in a brace 65. End 63 is suitably provided with a rubber grommet 68 having a round head which engages the inner surface of member 30 and applies a retaining tension between the inner surface of member 30 and the projecting flange 62.

Each brace 65 is provided with an elongated slot 70 through which a pair of fasteners, such as screw 71, projects. Inasmuch as the head of each screw is of larger diameter than the width of the slot, only the shank of the screw will pass through the slot of brace 60. Fasteners 71 are received in threaded bores provided in the arm 60 provided on the extension 57. Therefore, the member 30 may be adjustably positioned in a vertical direction by loosening the fasteners 71 and allowing the shank of each fastener to slide within slot 70 provided in brace 65. The opposing ends of the slot 70, will determine the extreme limits of vertical adjustment for the member 30. Inasmuch as brace 65 is mounted on leg 60 of extension 57 it can be seen that member 30 may be easily adjusted to any desired distance with respect to the fireplace face 31 to compensate for the thickness of the fireplace wall. Generally, extension 57 will be adjusted so that the rear of member 30 will be substantially flush with the front face 31 of the fireplace construction.

With reference to FIGURE 5, another embodiment of a firescreen is shown wherein the member 30 as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 has been replaced with a broad fiat member 72 having a rear side 73 on which a bracket 74 is suitably mounted. Bracket 74' is provided with an open ended slot 75 which receives the end of a rod 76 on which screen 21 is suspended by means of springs 27. Each end of rod 70 is provided with a stop 77 which is of larger diameter than slot 75 so that any longitudinal movement of the rod which would cause its displacement from bracket 74 is prevented.

Bracket 72 also serves to mount a pair of pulleys 78 and 79 which carry screen 21 actuating chains 24 and 25. The ends of chains 24 and 25 in this embodiment are coupled to rings 27 in a manner similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 so that the screen 21 may be suitably opened and closed. By employing member 72, it is possible to eliminate the brace 65 and thereby effect a direct attachment of arm 60 to the rear surface 73 of member 72. Therefore, similar clamping means 36 as employed in the embodiment of FIGURES 3 and 4 may be employed including extension 57 for positioning the rear surface 73 of member 72 respective to the front face 31 of the fireplace construction.

With reference to FIGURE 6, similar clamping means 36 is shown as employed with respect to the above embodiments of a firescreen for mounting still another embodiment of a firescreen wherein a member 80 is employed for carrying the firescreen and its associated rod and actuating mechanism (not shown) in a manner which is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. However, the opposite ends of member 80 are provided with a tab 81 which is suitably prrvided with an elongated slot 82 through which a fastener 83 projects and terminates in engagement with a bracket 84. The bracket 84 extends substantially parallel to member 80 and projects inwardly from tab 81. Each bracket 84 is provided with an elongated slot 85 through which a pair of fasteners 86 projects terminating in threadable engagement with a plate 87. Plate 87 is provided with an elongated slot 88 similar to slot 85 which receives a fastener 71 carried by arm 60 of extension 57. Therefore, member 80 may be adjusted in a vertical plane by loosening fasteners 71 and causing plate 87 to slide either upward or downward to the desired position followed by tightening fasteners 71. The rear flange of member 80 may be positioned with respect to front face 31 of the fireplace construction suitably adjusting extension 57 by means of fasteners 61. In the present instance a pair of fasteners 86 are provided so that a parallel alignment can be arranged between brackets 84 and the lintel 11.

Actual operation will be described with reference to the frescreen embodiment shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, wherein lintel 11 is included in the construction of a fireplace so that member 33 of the lintel supports the row of bricks defining the top of opening 10. Lintel 11 is also arranged so that member 34 is installed adjacent the rear face 35 of the fireplace wall. Bolt 40, coupling jaws 37 and 38 together may be rotated so that the distance between upright portion 48 and curved projection 51 is increased to accommodate the width of member 33 of the lintel. The clamp is held so that surface 52 of projection 51 engages the lower surface of row '17 of bricks and end 55 of member 33 and so that upright portion 48 urges its associated raised portion 50 into firm engagement with the back surface of member 34 of the lintel. At this time, bolt 40 may be rotated in a manner to draw the opposing jaws together and thereby clamp onto lintel 11.

Member 30 may be arranged so that its rearward face is substantially flush with the front face 3 1 of the fireplace construction. During the positioning of member 30, extension 57 slides on fasteners 61 which are projected through slot 58. Upon proper position of member 30 with respect to front face 31 of the fireplace construction, fasteners 61 may be actuated to fix the position of extension 57 with respect to the clamping jaws.

Now it is in order to adjust the vertical position of member 30 and thereby the elevation of screen 21 by loosening fasteners 71 and sliding bracket 65 by means of its slot 70 to the desired height of member 30. At this time, the fasteners 71 may be tightened so that bracket 53 is firmly attached to arm 60 of extension 57. Inasmuch as member 30 is composed of resilient metal, the head rivet 68 will place a spring retaining tension on member 30 via flange 62 and the back of member 30.

Therefore, the present invention provides a simple and easy mounting means for securing a firescreen to the lintel of a fireplace which employs a clamping means and adjustable means for properly fitting the firescreen over the opening of the fireplace taking into consideration the height of the screen from the hearth and the distance with respect to the face of the fireplace. All adjustments are easily acomplished by persons unskilled in the mechanical arts and without the necessity of, special tools or altering the fireplace construction.

Various other modifications are contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fireplace construction having an opening, a lintel spanning said opening adjacent the upper edge thereof, clamping means readily detachably gripped to the lintel, horizontally adjustable extension means carried by the clamping means adaptable to project outwardly beyond the fireplace opening, a firescreen, and vertically adjustable means attached to the upper end of the firescreen for securing the firescreen to the extension means.

2. In a fireplace construction having an opening, a lintel spanning said opening adjacent the upper edge thereof, clamping means readily detachably gripped to the lintel, horizontal extension means carried by the clamping means having at least one arm formed at a substantially right angle to the extension means, a firescreen, and vertically adjustable means attached to the upper end of the firescreen for securing the firescreen to the arm of the extension means.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein the extension means is adjustable to position the firescreen horizontally with respect to the face of the fireplace construction.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein the adjustable means is employed to position the firescreen in a vertical plane with respect to the fireplace construction.

5. In an upright fireplace construction having an opening, a lintel spanning said opening adjacent the upper edge thereof, clamping means readily detachably gripped to the lintel, extension means adjustably connected to the clamping means to be moved in a horizontal plane with respect to the fireplace construction, fastening means securing the extension means to the clamping means, a firescreen and vertical adjustable means attached to the upper end of the firescreen for securing the firescreen to the extension means.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein the clamping means comprises, a pair of jaw members separated by the lintel, and means connecting the jaw members for differentially moving the members toward and away from each other.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6 wherein one jaw member of the pair includes an upright extension engageable with one side of the lintel and the other jaw member includes a hook-like projection engageable with the lintel on its side opposite the engagement with the extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 265,740 Betts Oct. 10, 1882 339,167 Hadley Apr. 6, 1886 1,430,013 Hopkins et al. Sept. 26, 1922 1,858,967 Pettiegrew May 17, 1932 1,905,623 Deitz Apr. 25, 1933 2,150,367 Eisele Mar. 14, 1939 2,562,371 Shannon July 31, 1951 2,644,191 Meyer July 7, 1953 2,803,241 Chapla Aug. 20, 1957 2,846,998 Robinson Aug. 12, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 64,173 Germany Sept. 5, 1892 534,632 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1941 

